Arrest made after human remains confirmed as missing man

An arrest has been made over the death of a man from Fife whose remains were found in an industrial estate.

Facial reconstruction technology was used to identify the remains found in Glenrothes last year as 61-year-old Ean Coutts.

Mr Coutts, who lived in the village of Kinglassie, was discovered at the Whitehill Industrial Estate in September.

He was identified following extensive investigations including the facial reconstruction created by experts at John Moores University in Liverpool.

Police have now arrested a man over the death which is being treated as suspicious.

The 30-year-old was arrested on Tuesday before being released pending further enquires into the circumstances surrounding the death.

Officers have also been searching several addresses in Glenrothes and KInglassie as part of the investigation.

The family of Mr Coutts have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers.

Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Houliston, from Police Scotland’s Major Investigation Team, said: “We received a significant number of responses following release of the facial reconstruction and I would like to thank all those who contacted us.

“This has allowed us to identify the man as Ean Coutts and my thoughts are with his family at this time. Ean had lived in Kinglassie for a number of years and was well known in the village.

“We are treating his death as suspicious and officers will be carrying out enquiries in the area as part of our ongoing investigation.

“I am appealing to anyone who knew Ean, who may have had any contact with him from around August, 2019, or who has information that could assist with our investigation to contact us urgently.”